Plane skids off runway

YOGYAKARTA: A DC-9 plane belonging to the Merpati Nusantara Airlines skidded off the runway when it landed at the Adisucipto Airport here yesterday.

There were no injuries.

The plane, which was carrying 80 passengers and six crew members from Denpasar, stopped some 35 meters away from the runway. The aircraft suffered minor damage to the underside of the cockpit and its front wheel, Antara news agency reported.

Col. Soelaeman, head of Perum Angkasa which administers the airport, said the authorities were investigating the cause of the accident. All the wheels were in order at the time of landing as a slight drizzle fell, he said.

The accident forced the airport to close down and a total of 13 flights between Yogyakarta, Jakarta, Denpasar and Surabaya were rerouted to Adi Sumarmo Airport in Solo, about 60 kilometers to the east of Yogyakarta.

Soelaeman said the airport will be opened only to light aircraft today. (emb)

;JP;HAR;TIS ANPAa..r.. Across-Salatiga-college Students ask rector to leave post JP/2/ACROSS

Students ask rector to leave post

SALATIGA, Central Java: At least 1,500 students at the crisis- hit Christian University of Satyawacana announced here yesterday that they would leave the school if the rector refused to resign.

Rector John JOI Ihalauw has been the target of students and lecturers since October, when the university sacked Dr. Arief Budiman, a popular sociologist.

The students and lecturers have repeatedly staged protests, rallies and sit-ins in sympathy for Arief, a Harvard-educated sociologist and outspoken critic of the government.

Meanwhile the rector has asked all teachers to make written statements in which they declare their willingness to continue their academic activities.

One of the lecturers told The Jakarta Post yesterday that he had been threatened with dismissal by the rector if he failed to follow orders.

"This is nothing but an act of terrorism," said the lecturer, who refused to be identified.

The students, who are members of the Pro-Democracy organization, have demanded that the Satyawacana foundation elect a new rector and that old foundation members resign because they were responsible for the present crisis. (har/tis)

;JP;ANT;TIS; ANPAa..r.. Across-Palu-midwives Midwives complain about cut in subsidy JP/2/ACROSS

Midwives complain about cut in subsidy

PALU, Central Sulawesi: Midwives who regularly receive annual subsidies from the local administration have complained that the sums received were far below the figure mentioned in the receipts they had to sign.

"Some of us received Rp 510,000 and others Rp 580,000. However, everyone had to sign a receipt declaring they got Rp 750,000," commented several midwives to Antara on Thursday.

The midwives said that there was no information at all about the mysterious deduction.

Head of the provincial health office Dr. H. Nadiar was quoted by the news agency as saying Thursday that his office could not pay the midwives in full because the funds were only allocated to 109 midwives, while their numbers had swelled to nearly 200.

The government subsidizes lodging and operation costs for midwives.

Asked why they still had to sign receipts of Rp 75,000 (US$32) Nadiar said, "that is in line with the administration's ruling." (tis)

;JP;ANT;TIS; ANPAa..r.. Across-BAceh-school Primary schools are just enough JP/2/ACROSS

Primary schools are just enough

BANDA ACEH, Aceh: Governor Syamsuddin Mahmud said on Thursday that he was disappointed by the number of primary school graduates in his province that refuse to pursue their studies.

He said that according to data, only 81 percent of the graduates of both general and Islamic primary schools were interested in continuing at the junior high school level.

"This figure is still low. The government doesn't expect the enrollment numbers to reach 85 percent until the end of the current five-year development program in March 1999," Syamsuddin said to Antara.

The governor spoke at the induction of the new head of the provincial education and culture office. He said that over the last three years there were 14,000 primary school graduates annually throughout Indonesia who refused to enroll in general or Islamic high schools. (tis)

;JP;ANT;TIS; ANPAa..r.. Across-Pekanbaru-elephants Tamed elephants get employers JP/2/ACROSS

Tamed elephants get employers

PEKANBARU Riau: Twenty-one elephants, which have been tamed at a training center here, have got "foster parents" who will employ them in various businesses.

The elephants were handed over to the employers in a ceremony at Muara Fajar village, 20 km west of here on Friday, Antara reported.

Four of the elephants will be employed at timber processing plants and in forestry projects while the rest will become new zoo residents in this province and West Sumatra. (tis)

;JP;ANT;TIS; ANPAa..r.. Across-Semarang-resettle More people to leave C. Java JP/2/ACROSS

More people to leave C. Java

SEMARANG: The province of Central Java will send 7,900 families to transmigration projects on other islands this year, the head of the provincial transmigration office, Sanyoto, said here Thursday.

He said that the program is a part of the government plan to improve welfare of the people and reduce the population density in this province.

Sanyoto said the provincial administration will continue with the campaign to encourage the people to take part in the government-sponsored projects or voluntarily move to islands outside Java.

He said the campaign involves training in the fields of agriculture and health.

According to Sanyoto more than 15,000 had said that they wanted to move within this year to other islands, mostly to Irian Jaya, for a better life. (tis)

;JP;ANT;TIS; ANPAa..r.. Across-Bekasi-corruption Village chief accused of corruption JP/2/ACROSS

Village chief accused of corruption

BEKASI, West Java: The people of Sriamar village, Tambun, have accused their village chief of manipulating the development fund.

The fund is part of the government program to develop backward villages and Sriamar had been promised Rp 20 million (US$9,000).

The fund includes aid for less priveleged members of society and for those active in small businesses.

Fourteen leading Sriamarese have registered complaints with the minister of home affairs in Jakarta, the West Java governor in Bandung and the Bekasi regent over the unauthorized subsidy cut they received.

Meanwhile some vegetable vendors, two-wheeled taxi drivers and food stall operators said they had not received a cent from the village authorities although they were very sure that their names were on the recipient lists.

The village authorities have distributed Rp 100,000 to each of the poor people who were said deserve the subsidy.

A chicken vendor said she had received the aid but the that sum had been less than Rp 100,000. She said she had no idea why it had been cut. (tis)